


Oh Hey I Know You

by Chrystie, kate882



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Identity Porn, Jason was never robin au, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:21:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27120341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrystie/pseuds/Chrystie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kate882/pseuds/kate882
Summary: Dick investigated a sketchy bar rumored to be a hang out for some of Red Hood's men. He didn't find any of that, but he did get a good one night stand with a guy named Jason. At least he didn't think he found anything Red Hood related until he recognized Jason under the helmet when Nightwing patched up an injured Red Hood. It seems he'd found more than just Red Hood's men in that bar. Maybe it was time to go back.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd
Comments: 20
Kudos: 354





	Oh Hey I Know You

**Author's Note:**

> More from the WIP folder clean out, hope you guys enjoy!

Dick was actually a little worried that the Red Hood was dead when he found him laid out on the ground in the rain with his helmet cracked. The men who had presumably done this to him definitely were, if the bullet holes in their heads and chests were anything to go by, because Red Hood would never go down without taking everyone else down with him.

But upon closer inspection, Dick could see he was breathing, admittedly shallowly, which meant he had to do something and hope he wasn’t about to get shot for getting closer. And getting closer revealed that Red appeared to have taken some bullets of his own. 

A dying man couldn’t deny a patch job, right? Well he’d find out soon enough. He crouched down to peel off Red’s jacket to get a better look at the wounds.

Red stirred slightly under the touch, which was probably a good sign, letting out a quiet pained sound, but not seeming to have reached full consciousness yet. The movement of his head though caused a chunk of helmet that seemed to have taken a lot of damage to finally fall apart from the rest, clattering to the wet pavement, and Dick got his first ever real glimpse of the Red Hood. 

Red Hood had a cautious streak that was stronger than most superheros who at least showed part of their face. Red Hood couldn’t even be pinned down to an ethnicity because he showed absolutely nothing of himself. The only descriptors Dick could solidly give of him were ‘tall’ and ‘built like an athlete’. Even his voice was filtered through his helmet. 

But now Dick could see skin pale from blood loss, high cheekbones, the corner of his mouth, and just a hint of black lining across the cheekbone he could see, indicating that the Red Hood was actually wearing a mask under his helmet, and yeah that officially put him ahead in paranoia than probably every other person Dick had ever met, and he knew a lot of people who kept their identities to themselves. 

He seemed to come to a bit more when Dick started to try to remove the armor under his jacket, a gloved hand loosely grabbing him by the wrist. “I wouldn’t,” Red managed to get out with a few coughs, voice filter seeming to be broken, and considering the man only sounded barely conscious Dick couldn’t even tell if that was supposed to be a threatening statement or an actual warning about how Red’s outfit operated. Based on previous interactions it could really be either, but the guy wasn’t exactly in a position to be threatening anyone. 

“Is it going to electrocute me? Because if I were you I’d prefer to not bleed out than to not be undressed.”

Red had to cough a few more times before he was able to get more words out, and Dick resisted the urge to rush him so that he could get to his wounds faster because he wasn’t exactly looking to get electrocuted trying to save a crime lord tonight. “It’ll definitely knock you out. Maybe worse.” His voice was quiet and raspy from the coughing as he spoke, clearly struggling to get the words out and keep himself awake. He let go of Dick’s wrist to touch a few seemingly random places on the armor before dropping his arm back down to the pavement, the part of his mouth Dick could see was pressed into a thin line like he was trying to hold in any signs of pain. 

Dick didn’t waste any time peeling away his armor to get a good look at what he was dealing with. “I’m not going to be able to do anything for you here. How are you still breathing?” There was just no way he was going to do anything properly in this lighting with just a first aid kit in the rain. Red also probably needed a blood transfusion, and he didn’t have the equipment for that on him or actually know his blood type. “Think you can just stand long enough just to get to my bike?” He’d have to take him to a safe house, even though he was sure Red would hate that.

“If I could stand, would I be letting you do this?” He answered, but still tried to sit up a bit. It didn’t really work, he ended up leaning against Dick, biting his lower lip hard enough a bit of blood trickled out. 

“Slow and steady. The bikes not too far away.” It was a struggle but they managed to make it without Dick dropping Red or Red just collapsing and passing out from pain and blood loss.

He sped the entire way to his closest safe house, not stopping for anything. When they got there, he didn’t care how bloody his couch was going to get. He just got to work patching him up and starting a blood transfusion with little argument on Red’s part, who was too weak to not tell him what his blood type was. He was glad Oracle liked to keep his safe houses stocked with everything she believed he’d ever need.

Soon enough he had an unconscious criminal on his couch, in stable enough condition that Dick didn’t think he had to worry about him dying there, and a giant mess all around the area and especially on the couch, which he’d probably have to replace after this. He tried to run the guy’s blood to see if he could get any matches, but absolutely nothing came up. Same with finger prints. So he cleaned to pass time and tried to make his living room less of a biohazard. 

It wasn’t until Hood moved in his sleep, and another chunk of his helmet that had been only just barely staying intact came off that he was able to get a hint about Red Hood’s identity. Because it might be matted up with blood, but that hair style was still pretty distinctive. Obviously a white streak in the bangs wasn’t totally incriminating in its own, but he could also see more of his face now even with the mask on under the broken helmet that Dick didn’t trust wouldn’t still somehow kill him if he touched it.

It wasn’t even like Dick did one night stands that often, despite the rumors. And he definitely wasn’t in bars that shady very often, but well he’d been following a lead that some of Red Hood’s men sometimes hung out there, but after a few hours without anyone so much as hinting at a connection to the crime lord, he’d been ready to leave when Jason had approached him. He hadn’t even gotten Jason’s name from the man himself, but from the bartender, which made a lot more sense now, and he couldn’t even say for sure it was his real name. He’d been very confident when he asked Dick, “So, you wanna take me back to your place, or do I have to pay for your drink first?” 

Dick had kind of hoped it could go past a one night stand, because Jason was hot as hell, and fantastic in bed, but he’d barely stuck around for five minutes after they were done before leaving. 

And now here he was laid out on Dick’s safe house couch, covered in blood, and wearing the Red Hood’s outfit. It looked like he’d found more than just Red Hood’s men in that bar. 

Dick wasn’t really sure what to do with this new information. On one hand he could arrest Red since the man was technically a criminal, and it wasn’t like he could resist arrest very well right now, but well Dick did actually like working with him from time to time. He was a good ally when he wasn’t doing something illegal. And Dick knew that Red was also secretly a softie. He once saw him let a kid get away with stealing from him, even told the kid to be more wary of who he was stealing from since not all crime lords were that forgiving.

Dick knew for sure he couldn’t reveal to Red that he knew who he was, that risked Red finding out his identity too, and working together occasionally didn’t garner that kind of trust. But well, Dick had wanted to see Jason again, and since he knew Red wasn’t all bad maybe this was a redemption attempt just waiting to happen. 

It took a few hours for Jason to come back to consciousness, and when he did it was slowly and sounded painful. “Fuck, where am I? How long have I been out?” He mumbled, struggling a bit to sit up and take in his surroundings. 

“You’re in my safehouse and you haven’t been out nearly long enough for someone with your injuries,” Dick said casually, handing him a glass of water.

Jason looked at the water and then at him and somehow managed to look incredulous with a decent chunk of his face still hidden, not bothering to take it from him. “The guys I was fighting?” 

“Worse off than you. It’s water, I hear it’s good for you.”

Jason continued to ignore the water, and really it wasn’t like there would be a point to him spiking it with anything if he’d wanted to harm Jason he’d had plenty of opportunity today. “Why did you take me here?” 

“Because you were bleeding out and I wasn’t going to attempt patching up your very bad wounds with just a first aid kit?” Dick took a pointed sip from the glass and placed it down on the table in front of Jason.

“No, I mean-“ he laid back down, apparently unable to hold himself up any longer. “Why did you take me here instead of the hospital where you could have me arrested.”

“Believe it or not, Red, but sometimes I happen to like you. I definitely wouldn’t do something as underhanded as getting you arrested without you even being conscious for it.”

“You wouldn’t stand a chance at it otherwise,” Jason informed him, apparently still having the energy to trash talk him even while he couldn’t sit up. He did finally reach for the water though, and struggled a bit with getting it to his mouth around the broken helmet he was still wearing, but he did manage to drink so Dick could consider it a victory. 

“I’ll consider getting you arrested more in the future when you know I’m doing it,” Dick knew he wouldn’t, “for now you just need to not die on me.”

“I’m not gonna die. You apparently dragged me all the way here to make sure of it.” 

“I did, which is why if you undo all that work the minute you leave I’ll hunt you down just to make sure you’re staying alive.”

“Man you hero types don’t know how to mind your own damn business.” He sat back up again, this time a little more fully and looked down at his heavily bandaged torso. “What did you do with my clothes?” 

“I washed them. They’re still wet.” Contrary to what most people thought, he did know how to do laundry and wash armour. He just didn’t do it very often.

Jason frowned a bit at that, but seemed to decide to move past it. “And my other stuff?” By which Dick could guess he meant the absolutely ridiculous amount of weapons that had been hidden in his clothes. 

“Who knows?” Dick shrugged and when he got a glare in return he laughed and waved off Jason’s anger. “Okay okay, they’re on the other side of the room.”

Jason looked around and spotted them, and then much to Dick’s concern got up off the couch. He didn’t seem able to do much more than that though, if the way he was standing quite stiffly with any color that might have returned to his face after the blood transfusion and a few hours of rest drained out. 

“How about leaving after a few more hours of rest. I got take out while you were sleeping too so if you get hungry you won’t starve.” Dick would’ve preferred it if he stayed a day or two but knew Jason definitely wouldn’t want that.

“I should go. My helmet-I should really fix it. It’s probably dangerously broken, and we’re really lucky it hasn’t blown up or something with all the wiring and pieces missing. And I can rest better in my own-“ he fell back onto the couch, cutting himself off with a gasp as he hit it not too gently.

Dick placed a hand on his shoulder, “I know you’re uncomfortable, but you’re really not in any condition to swing across the city. Just stay a little longer. Maybe take off your helmet if it’s that dangerous. I can see the mask you have underneath it anyway.”

Jason shrugged his hand off, but after a few moments of hesitation, or maybe just recovering from the fall, he finally removed the helmet, a vast improvement because Dick was pretty sure a few months ago Jason would have preferred to risk blowing them both up than so much as give Dick any kind of hint as to who he was, revealing both more of his face and the head wound that had caused the blood he’d noticed in his hair before but hadn’t been able to get at with Jason unconscious. 

“That looks like something that needs to be cleaned. I’ll be right back.” Dick grabbed some antiseptic and cotton pads. It didn’t look like something that would need stitches though. His helmet ended up taking most of the damage. “Don’t hit me if it stings, because it will.”

“I’m currently harboring a few bullet holes in my body. I think I can handle a little stinging,” Jason answered, letting Dick clean him up and bandage him. “I think I’m more bandage than person at this point, do you think you maybe went a bit overboard with that?” 

“I think a few hours ago you were more bullet holes than blood so I think the bandages aren’t that bad. Besides, I always wanted to spend time with a mummy,” Dick snickered.

“Go fuck yourself,” Jason muttered, flipping him off before reaching for the water to take another small sip, having a much easier time with it now that he didn’t have a helmet to work around. 

“That’s only fun when you don’t have company.”

“Do me a favor and grab me that pill bottle that was in my jacket,” Jason gestured at it among all of the weapons. 

Dick didn’t feel like testing Jason’s reflexes at the moment and actually handed it to him rather than toss it to him like he typically would have. 

Jason took them and after inspecting them like he thought Dick had done something he downed a few with the water. “I should be good to go after these kick in. Won’t feel much of anything.”

“And people say I’m the worst with my health,” Dick muttered.

“If I went to a hospital this injured they’d drug me up. What’s the difference?” 

“If you went to the hospital they wouldn’t let you leave for probably at least a week, drugged or not.”

“The hospital wouldn’t get a say in that. Just like you don’t since I’m leaving as soon as I can.” 

“You’re terrible for yourself. I don’t know why I spend so much time trying to arrest you when you’re clearly going to get yourself killed.” Dick opened up a box of chinese take out because if Jason was going to try and leave before eating, someone should at least enjoy it.

“You’re not arresting me now,” Jason pointed out, finishing off the water and setting the glass back down onto the coffee table. 

“No, I’m definitely not,” Dick said past a mouthful of noodles.

Jason finally managed to get back to his feet, although he was swaying a bit on them this time. “Don’t worry birdie, it’ll take more than a few bullets to put me in the ground again,” he smirked at him and went over to the table to gather his stuff and put his still wet clothes and armour back on. 

“Like you’ve been dead before,” Dick chuckled.

“I’m super high right now, that’s some strong emergency shit I took, so I’m going to go with ‘no comment’,” he said as he got the last of the armour on and started putting weapons away. 

“Oh my god, you have, or were very close to.” There was a conscious effort from Dick not to let his jaw drop and food fall out.

Jason slid another knife into his boot before answering. “Come up with whatever you want; I’m sticking with no comment.” 

“Okay okay,” Dick stuffed the information down to freak out about later along with the information about Red Hood’s identity. “You want to at least eat what I got you?”

Jason paused like he was deliberating, and Dick was pretty sure the drugs had something to do with that. “No. I’m good. And I should get going. While these are still making me feel like I don’t have a body.” 

“You’re the worst to yourself, I hope you know that.”

He got finger guns in response. And then Jason was stumbling out his window and Dick really just hoped he wouldn’t crash into a building or let go of his grappling hook on the way home, but he knew following him would probably result in getting shot so he’d have to leave it be.

* * *

Finding Jason as himself rather than as the Red Hood took a while and involved going to a lot of shitty bars and becoming a semi-regular at the one they’d met at.

Gotham was full of  _ so much crime _ was what he basically got from his time at these bars. Like, he knew that, in a numerical value, crime rates and everything, but he was usually focused on the bigger stuff since Gotham had crazy people with gimmicks into mass murder. Walking into bars to see people openly snorting coke on their booth table and talking about crimes they’d committed or had done to them or someone they knew on a regular basis really highlighted why the area was called Crime Alley. 

Finally, in the bar they’d met at, he spotted Jason walk in just as he was getting ready to call it a night. Jason scanned the bar, and then walked up to the bartender and chatted with her for a moment, before pulling up a stool and getting a beer for himself. 

“Fancy meeting you here again,” Dick slid over to the stool next to Jason, who barely spared him a glance. 

“Not interested,” he said, taking a swig from his beer. 

“Ah, don’t like repeats. I guess that was pretty easy to figure given how fast you left last time. Sucks though. It was a pretty good night.” Dick was actually a little disappointed, because while he did want to get through to Jason, it was also very good sex.

“Jay, this guy bugging you?” The bartender asked, eyeing Dick suspiciously. Which was a little unfair because Dick had been in this bar more than Jason the past few weeks, and he hadn’t done anything to garner any sort of suspicion. 

“I can handle myself,” Jason told her, and she sent Dick one last look before going back to serving other patrons of the bar.

“Wow I guess I know who she’d pick if she had to kick one of us out.”

“Pretty boy, she’d kick you out before most of the people in here,” Jason informed him, letting out a small chuckle. 

“Well I guess I’m not surprised, I am a little disappointed though,” Dick gave an exaggerated sigh, “And I thought we were really getting to know each other.”

“You look like the rich kid here to satisfy some need for a quick thrill that’ll sell everyone out to the cops the minute you’re uncomfortable. You’re not exactly winning any most valued customer awards around here,” Jason told him bluntly, taking another sip of his beer. 

Not exactly what he was going for but okay. “This isn’t exactly what I’d classify as a quick thrill in Gotham, and it’s not really what I was looking for.”

“Drinking and whatever else in east Gotham and fucking a Crime Alley patron who you don’t know who rides a motorcycle with Bruce Wayne as a guardian firmly puts you in that category, buddy. You’re not the first rich kid to come here as an act of rebellion, you’re just the only recognizable one to all of Gotham.” 

“Can’t really be an act of rebellion if this isn’t what Bruce would hate me doing, besides I kicked the whole rebellious phase a few years ago. But for arguments sake, drinking is hardly an act of rebellion and to a rich socialite with a party boy son, neither is getting high, I also ride a motorcycle and didn’t know you did until after I saw it, and I didn’t exactly come here looking for a lay, you just happened to be my type.”

Jason shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter to me either way. I’m just letting you know what you look like to everyone here.”

“Really? Then why’d you come over to me that other night?” Dick finally took a sip of his beer. He’s been putting off any alcohol, no matter how little to make sure he wasn’t accidentally tipsy for this meeting.

Jason spared him an incredulous look. “You’re hot,” he said simply. 

It wasn’t funny, wasn’t even meant to be, but Dick still ended up snorting out a laugh and had to put down his beer. “Sorry, sorry. I don’t know why I found that so funny,” He chuckled, “probably because I was expecting something more along the lines of ‘so you could say you did’ or ‘so you could brag about the different ways you could bend me’ or something like that.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Are we in high school or something? Who cares that much?” 

“You’d be surprised.”

“Whatever. Can I have my beer in peace now?” 

“Y’know you’re a buzzkill? A cute one but still.”

“I told you as soon as you walked over I wasn’t interested,” Jason reminded him. “I don’t like getting involved with people I’ve slept with.” 

“Who said anything about getting involved? I told you, it was just really good last time.”

“If you’re just looking for a quick decent fuck, that guy will probably be more than willing,” Jason nodded towards a man on the other side of the bar who was definitely eyeing Dick before they looked at him. 

“Eh, you’re still more my type,” which wasn’t a lie. Jason was actually scarily his type. Dye his hair red and he would’ve been the man of Dick’s dreams.

“Fucking the same guy twice counts as involvement.” Jason downed the rest of his beer and got up to start walking to the door.

“Only means something if you make it mean something,” Dick called out.

Jason didn’t even look back at him. 

Well… It was more than he’d gotten the first time he’d tried to converse properly with Red Hood. Probably because Jason wasn’t pointing a gun at him this time. Although Dick didn’t doubt that he was packing one, but hell if he’d been able to spot it. 

* * *

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jason muttered, motioning for a shot from the bartender when a few weeks later Dick spotted him and sat down next to him again. 

“Hi to you too, you’re looking good today too, thanks for saying so.”

“Are you trying to get a pity fuck or something? Because I don’t do that.” 

“Wow Jay, how nice of you to notice my winning personality, I gotta say, yours is pretty special too, it’s no wonder everyone here loves you,” Dick continued to ignore what Jason was actually saying.

Jason downed the shot of what Dick assumed was vodka and finally turned to Dick. “What do you want?” 

“To get to know you. Not romantically, if that’s what you were going to counter with, maybe not even in a friend way since you’re also not interested in that. I wasn’t lying when I said everyone seems to love you here.”

“They like me because I don’t bother them the way you’re bothering me,” Jason informed him. Which, Dick knew wasn’t quite right. When he’d asked around, the ones willing to actually answer him, all had at least one story of Jason helping them out in some way. Often violent ways, but Dick kind of knew that was his MO at this point. 

“Look, I’m already learning so much,” Dick grinned.

“Then go practice by leaving me alone.”

“Practice what? I’m learning about you, not about how to get people to like me.”

“Why then? Why not go learn about someone else? What’s the end goal here?”

“Maybe I just find you interesting.” Not a lie technically.

Jason didn’t seem to agree with that assessment though, if the way he narrowed his eyes at Dick was any indication. “No. I want a real answer. You were less interested in my life when we were planning to have sex. Now I can’t seem to get rid of you.” 

“But I do find you interesting. A sexy bad boy that doesn’t like letting people get close to him with a secret heart of gold? So interesting.” And of course he was also the Red Hood.

“No heart of gold here. Do I have to get you banned from this bar? Is that what it’s gonna take to get you to leave me alone?” 

“Helping a guy find his step kid’s cat sounds like a hidden heart of gold to me. You should show it more instead of hiding it with that scowl.”

Jason full body turned in his seat to glare directly at the man who had told Dick that and flipped him off before turning back to motion for another drink without waiting to see the man duck his head sheepishly. “To get him to stop bitching about the kid whining. Would you fuck off already?” 

“Eh,” Dick shrugged, sipping at his beer.

Jason rolled his eyes, but didn’t actually attempt to get Dick kicked out, just moved to sit somewhere else. 

* * *

“You picked a terrible angle to watch this building from,” Jason informed him, in full Red Hood gear, having managed to come up behind Dick without alerting him to his presence. 

Dick, for the most part, wasn’t that surprised. Jason didn’t like to help often, but when he did he didn’t come with a warning. “Only one with enough cover.”

“You completely missed me going in there though. I was kind of expecting back up when I saw the blue stripes, birdie. I barely even shot them because I expected you to come in.”

Dick shot him an incredulous look, one that was significantly dampened by his mask. “You didn’t. Already?”

“I did. They’re all tied up waiting for you to call the cops or whatever you do.” 

“Dammit,” Dick visibly deflated, “I wanted some of that action.”

Jason shrugged. “Should have picked a better watching spot.”

“Well,” Dick tapped his ear piece to signal the police and send them his location, a nice handy upgrade oracle had made to their communicators, “are you going to stay long enough to meet the police? Because I’m not.”

“Police around here don’t like me much. And you’ve pulled enough bullets out of me for one life time.”

“Then we better get going.” Dick was already swinging away.

“We? You got another job going you need me for? I just did all the work here,” Jason said, pulling out his grapple and coming after him. 

“You wanna patrol with me?” It’d be better than being alone.

“You know that’s not my scene. I’m not trying to play superhero.” 

Which was a shame, honestly. Dick was sure he’d be great at it. “Well...” He hadn’t been planning on getting help for it, but maybe a new set of eyes might be nice, “I’ve been working on a case that’s got me stumped for leads. How good is your detective work?”

“How interesting is the case?” Jason countered. 

“A new dangerous drug has been circulating too fast to not have someone running it. Just can’t seem to track down who.”

Jason folded his arms over his chest, somehow looking unimpressed even with his helmet on. “Who needs detective skills for that. Mikey and his guys. And they’re getting a little too close to my terf doing it too.” 

Dick gaped up at him. “You know, my job would be a whole lot easier if you just helped out more.”

“Why the hell would I do that? I gave you this one for patching me up and because he’s getting on my nerves.” 

“You’re paying me back for the patching? You know you don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t like owing people shit.” Jason shrugged. “Handled your guys back there without killing a single one of them, and snitched on your drug guy. You need Mikey’s address too, or are we even?”

“We didn’t have to be even. You didn’t owe me anything, but if it’s something that’s going to bug you then yes, we’re even.”

He could almost perfectly envision the narrow eyed look Jason was probably giving him in the silence that followed while he was probably either processing the idea of someone just doing something nice for him or trying to figure out whatever angle he thought Dick had. Or both. Probably both. Finally he spoke up, and Dick wished he’d ditch the voice filter, it’d be easier to read his tone without it and it wasn’t like he hadn’t heard Jason’s voice when patching him up. “Whatever. At least it’s covered now.” 

“I hope that’s not the only way to get you to help out from now on.”

“I’ve helped you before. Just be involved in something I’m actually interested in if you want my help.” 

“Alright alright. Maybe if we manage to find enough of those interesting cases to work on together, you’ll also feel more comfortable being around me without the helmet. I gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised to see what you look like.” 

Jason shifted his weight uncomfortably. “No, I don’t see that happening. Especially since you wouldn’t be the only one to notice me walking around without a helmet on.” 

“Boo. It’s kind of a shame you hide your face under that, you’re pretty handsome.”

“Better reason to hide it. Don’t need anyone recognizing me.”

“Then I guess I’ll just consider myself one of the lucky few.”

“Fuck off man, I was half dead and high as a kite; it’s not exactly my best look.” 

“And yet you still looked great,” which felt unfair in some way because he really shouldn’t have looked that good in that state, “But fine, I’ll stop teasing.”

“Damn right you will. I’d have kicked your ass if it went on much longer.” 

“You could  _ try _ .”

“Birdy, I only recently stopped kicking your ass so much,” Jason reminded him. 

“You don’t always win. In fact, I remember most of our fights ending in a draw.”

“Because I decided not to shoot you. I think that counts as me winning.”

“And I decided not to electrocute you, so does it really?”

“Your sticks wouldn’t kill me. My bullets would kill you.” 

“You know I don’t ever aim for death.” He said it lightheartedly, but they both knew he was serious. He never liked that Jason thought killing was a good answer to crime and Jason knew that. It was a pretty important factor in deciding which jobs they ended up doing together. He’d learned through some trial and error which ones Jason was invested enough in to help him, but not so invested in that someone would end up dead even with Dick there or after he left in ‘mysterious’ circumstances. And when he recognized the kinds that would end with dead people if they wound up on Jason’s radar he generally tried to solve those before Jason could get involved. 

“Yeah, which is why mine would be a pretty permanent win.” Jason wasn’t exactly baiting him like he would have been a few months ago with that kind of line, his tone was still too casual for that, but he was definitely tense like he was ready for Dick to turn it into a fight. 

“Not unless I find a way to come back, you apparently did.” Dick kept himself lax and his tone light. He wasn’t really up for a fight, not with Jason at least, he had still been hoping to fight the goons Jason beat up before he’d even moved.

It might have been the wrong words though, because Jason didn’t relax and there was a long stretch of silence before he finally said “...what?” 

“Ah crap,” Dick groaned, “you don’t remember mentioning it.” Jason tensing up was the opposite direction in where he wanted Jason’s comfort levels to be around him.

“I told you that?” Jason asked him suspiciously. 

“I wouldn’t say you told me. More like offhandedly implied it and then refused to elaborate.”

“When? I don’t remember saying any shit like that to you.”

“When I patched you up. You were pretty out of it after you took your industrial pain drugs.”

“Oh.” Jason seemed to force his fists to unclench. “Right. Makes sense I guess.”

“Sorry if that’s something you didn’t want me to know.” God did he hope this wouldn’t push Jason away, especially since he clearly wasn’t making any progress with him out of costume.

There was a decently lengthed silence, and not for the first time Dick wished he would stop wearing that helmet so he could get some kind of idea of what was going through Jason’s head. “It’s whatever,” he decided on. “I said it, my bad. And it’s not the most personal information I could have given.” 

“You know your helmet makes it harder to tell if you’re lying but sure, I’ll take it.”

“I’m not. I just don’t like people knowing things about me. Which I know you’ve noticed.” 

“Was hard not to notice,” Dick agreed, “don’t worry, I’m not going to go blabbing everything I know about you.”

“I know. No one’s been talking about any of the shit I’ve said to you. And if they start to, I’ll know exactly where to look.” 

“Oooh that sounded like a threat, it’s too bad that now that I’ve seen you high off your ass I can’t unsee how cute you were.”

“Are you trying to bring us back to when I wanted you dead?” 

“No no, definitely wouldn’t want that. It’s just so fun to tease.”

“Whatever. Have fun with your patrol or whatever it is you do.” Jason offered a two finger salute and left. 

* * *

Dick was not in the mood today. He didn’t care that he was ordering more shots than he could typically handle, he didn’t care that he was scowling at his cup instead of the happy facade he plastered on his face for everyone, and he didn’t care when Jason came in and shot him a look of annoyance. He just stayed where he was, glaring at his shot, pretending it was Bruce’s dumb face he was glaring at. Well he couldn’t really say dumb face, Bruce never looked dumb which was so annoying to think about.

Apparently silently drinking together was something Jason could stand doing around him though. “I don’t wanna hear about it,” was all he said to Dick as he sat down at the bar and ordered more shots, sliding some Dick’s way when they were placed in front of him and then throwing one back of his own.

“Good. Don’t wanna talk about it.” Dick downed both the shot he’d been staring at and the one Jason slid him, glad to feel the numbness spread through his body.

Jason simply nodded his agreement and told the bartender to keep the drinks coming. 

“Why are you being nice?” He had a vague feeling that he hadn’t meant to let those words leave his mouth but he really couldn’t care.

“I’m not.” Jason took another shot. “I’m taking an opportunity to get trashed. Now shut up and drink, if this is going to turn into a heart to heart I’m out.” 

Dick let out a snort, “Hah, no.”

“Then shush. I’ve still got to catch up,” he said and knocked back three in a row.

“Not hard to,” Dick shrugged, “Doesn’t take much for me.”

Jason simply shrugged, clearly trying to transition them into silent drinking partners. 

It took more shots for Jason than it did for Dick, but they were eventually leaning against each other for balance while still seated, and the bartender shook her head when Jason tried to order another round. 

“Nope. You two are done for the night. At least from here, but good luck getting anywhere else.”

“‘S fine,” Dick slurred, waving his card at her, not caring how much it was. “‘M just gonna find someone ta fuck mah brains out.” If he was honest with himself though, Jason’s shoulder was really comfortable.

Jason glanced around and leaned a little heavier on Dick when that seemed to make his balance worse. “Man, you’re trashed. Just go home,” he muttered. 

“Lame. Sex’s more fun.” The still working part of Dicks brain was trying really hard to keep Dick from snuggling into Jason.

“You can’t even sit up on your own,” Jason reminded him, like he wasn’t leaning on Dick as well. 

“Ima be fine. Drunk sex feels the best. Maybe I’ll ask that guy that was lookin’ at me last time.” Dick couldn’t really find the effort to turn his head to check if the guy was there though.

Jason rolled his eyes and winced immediately after. “You still live in the same place, right?” 

“Mmhmm. Same place, same messiness you didn’t like.”

“Mari, call me a cab. I’m gonna get him home,” Jason told the bartender. 

“Sure thing. And drink some water damn it, you’re going to feel like shit tomorrow.” She placed two water glasses in front of them, so apparently being with Jason got him free water without even asking, before going over to the phone to call a cab for them.

“Take someone with us who wants me. I want some fuck.”

“Absolutely not. And no one in this bar is going to fuck you while you’re this trashed with me here anyway.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because Jason kicked the ass of the last guy who tried to take home a girl who was too drunk to say yes so bad that guy was in the hospital. Cab will be here in ten minutes,” Mari informed him. 

“But ‘m saying yes, ‘m the one asking.” Dick was vaguely sure he sounded like he was whining.

“Stand up and walk to the door on your own then,” Jason encouraged, managing to pull himself off of Dick which almost sent Dick to the floor. “Or just tell me the alphabet.”

“I can do that!” Dick balanced himself by leaning more on the countertop. He didn’t want to admit it but he didn’t think he could stay on his feet on his own at the moment. “A, B, C, D…” Dick trailed off with a scrunch of his nose, “F! F and uh H?”

“Nope,” Mari pushed the water closer to him. “You failed a test preschoolers could pass, I think Jay might be right.” 

“I don’t need ta know my ABD’s to feel good and not be angry about…” Dick trailed off. What was he angry about? He didn’t like being angry so it had to be someone or something that got to him. “Oh yeah!” He was mad at Bruce, and with that, his mood dropped instantly, “can I have another alcohol?”

“Absolutely not,” she said firmly, causing a quick, quiet laugh from Jason. 

“Why not?” He pouted at Jason. Was Jason the one who denied him alcohol? No it was Mari. He didn’t really want to turn his head, so he just continued to pout at Jason.

The phone rang and Mari picked it up, and a few seconds later turned back to them. “Your ride is here.”

“But seeeex!” Dick whined, not even caring how he was appearing to Jason.

“Shut up already,” Jason groaned, getting up to his feet unsteadily and then pulling Dick into a standing position as well. 

Dick let out a little whine as he leant heavily against Jason, he was trying to keep some of his weight on his own feet, but he sure wasn’t doing a good job.

They barely managed to get into the back of the cab, and Jason somehow still remembered his address, and in a blur they were back at his place and Jason was flopping face first into his couch. 

Dick somehow managed to make it to his bed, doing the same, but with a lot more annoyance since he clearly wasn’t going to be getting any that night.

* * *

Dick woke up and he felt disgusting. At least he knew that his goal of getting piss drunk last night was a success. Given the distinct feel of jeans around his legs, he had to assume the second half of his plan, which was to get the anger fucked out of him, didn’t happen. That was a mystery all on it’s own, given that he was very good at finding people to sleep with, drunk or otherwise. And then there was the mystery of how in the hell he got home. All of which had to be answered after he got pain killers, any kind of painkillers, preferably aspirin, into his body.

With a grunt, he hauled himself off his bed, after making sure that it was indeed his bed. Hobbling out of his room, he was greeted with a sight he never thought he’d see. Jason asleep, without any form of injury, on his couch. Double checking to make sure he still had clothes on and that Jason still had clothes on, he sighed at the sight of pants on both of them. Whether it was from relief of disappointment, he couldn’t tell. First things first though, pain killers. He tried as best as he could to make his way to his medicine cabinet without making much noise, which didn’t pan out too well with the array of things he managed to bump into and swear at.

He heard Jason groan from the couch, so he hadn’t succeeded in not waking him up it would seem. “God damn it, close your blinds.” 

“After meds. You want?” Dick was filling up two glasses of water anyway.

“Nah, I’ll manage. Don’t take pills from people I barely know.” 

It was nice to know Jason’s paranoia extended to his civilian identity too, not that Dick was too surprised. “Suit yourself.” Dick popped the aspirin into his mouth and swallowed it down with large gulps of water. He placed the second glass in front of Jason on the table. “It’s just water.” And hobbled over to close the blinds.

Jason lifted his head to side eye him, but eventually took the water in small sips.

And because he had to make sure. “Did we have sex last night?”

“No.” Jason gave him a look like he should know that. “You were so trashed you couldn’t walk on your own and didn’t even know the alphabet five letters in. So Mari called a cab and I got you home. And then I was too drunk to get myself home after that.”

“Just making sure. The plan was to get drunk then get fucked. Looks like I only got half my plan.” He was a little disappointed but he was also kind of grateful to Jason. Sure he had definitely wanted to have sex with someone last night, he could see the good intent in what Jason did. “Thanks though, for being a good guy.”

“Didn’t know that was the plan. Sorry to cockblock I guess.” 

“It’s fine, I can tell you were just looking out for me, which says a lot about you since I thought you couldn’t stand me.”

“Don’t have to like someone to not want them to get taken advantage of. I’m an asshole, but not that kind of asshole.” Jason finished his glass of water and grit his teeth as he sat up.

“Well still, thanks. You sure you don’t want that aspirin?”

“Positive.” He stood up stiffly. “I should go.”

“I figured you’d say that with your allergy to getting close to people in any possible way. At least let me call you a cab or something.” Dick, unlike Jason, couldn’t really bear to stand any longer and lowered himself down onto his love seat.

“I’m good. I can get my own ride. Wouldn’t want to flare up the allergies.” 

“How sensitive are they,” Dick let out a low laugh. “I’m offering to call a cab, not hold your hand and go back with you.”

“Sensitive enough that you don’t need to know my address to give the cab guy,” Jason answered with a shrug. And maybe it was just the hangover, probably was, but Jason glanced at him consideringly before continuing like he was dragging the words out of his body. “Look man, whatever you’re going through, and I still don’t want to know about it, this is not an invitation for a heart to heart, getting trashed and picking up a hookup in one of the sketchiest bars you can find is more likely to get you an STD or killed than help you feel better.”

Not what Dick had been expecting. “What would you recommend then?” 

“Direct action. Kick the ass of whoever pissed you off. Or yell at them if you’re shit at fighting. Or, I don’t know, sue for emotional distress, rich people are always pulling that shit. Hurt them instead of yourself.” 

“I don’t think I’ve ever tried to sue someone,” Dick snorted. The idea of trying to sue Bruce was a funny one though. “And there’s no point in yelling or trying to beat someone up when they’re just as stubborn as you. Thanks though.”

Jason shrugged. “Not about changing their mind. It’s about making you feel better without doing something stupid to yourself.” 

“Guess it would feel pretty good to punch him in the face once in a while,” Dick mused.

“That’s the spirit. I’m gonna go now. I badly need some aspirin and a shower at my own place.”

“I could provide and have offered those things, well at least one of those things. You’re just choosing not to take me up on either because you live off the assumption that everyone out to get you until they explicitly prove you wrong.”

“Because most of the time they are,” Jason informed him as he headed for the door. “Easier to just not trust them in the first place.” 

“That’s… kind of sad.” It also hit Dick right in his guilt given that he was only getting close to Jason because he knew who he was. That felt like a breach of Jason’s trust in him as Nightwing, something that he’d spent the better part of a year gaining.

“Not really. Just practical. I guess I’ll see you around.” And then he was out the door. 

* * *

He’d heard a lot about Jason’s violent tendencies, and seen them when he was Red Hood, but he’d had yet to see it with him in just civvies until he walked into the bar to see Jason on top of a guy he hadn't seen in the bar before, beating the shit out of him. 

Dick’s first instinct was to break up the fight, but that wasn’t exactly a very Dickie Grayson thing to do. Instead he got as close to the scene as possible, which was right in front of Jason and just asked, without a hint of worry in the world, “What did he do?”

Jason barely spared him a glance. The man under him though tried to solicit him for help. “Man, get him off of m-” he was cut off by Jason wrapping an arm around his neck. 

“Shut the fuck up. If I ever see you around here again, you won’t be able to leave without assistance. Am I clear?” 

The man nodded as best he could while sputtering and coughing trying to get air in his lungs. Jason delivered one last hard blow to the man’s face and then got off of him and the guy ran out of the bar at a pace that could rival Wally’s. Which was extra impressive with the limp he had. Jason appeared to be fine though, although his knuckles looked a little worse for wear. He got up and walked out of the bar, pulling out a pack of cigarettes without even looking Dick’s way. 

With a long sigh, Dick quickly asked Mari if he could just buy an entire bottle of anything, he didn’t care and ran after Jason with a bottle of whisky in hand. 

Jason’s eyebrows shot up when he saw the bottle in Dick’s hand. “...Did you steal that? Because I’ll kick your ass too if you’re robbing my favorite bar.” 

“Of course not. I bought it, probably gave her more than it was worth since I kinda just threw the money towards her to keep up with you.”

“And why exactly are you following me around?” Jason asked, blowing smoke in Dick’s direction. 

Dick made a face and tried to wave the smoke away, but wasn’t discouraged. “Returning the favor,” he held the bottle up.

Jason’s brows furrowed as he looked between the bottle and Dick. “To repay me for taking you home when you got trashed… you bought me a bottle of alcohol to get trashed with?” 

“For getting trashed with me and not letting me be an idiot while I was trashed.” Dick popped it open and offered it over to Jason with a little shake. “I’ll even drink some of it first if it makes you feel better.”

“It wasn’t a big deal, man. You don’t need to follow me around buying shit.” 

Dick shrugged and took a tiny swing of the bottle, couldn’t risk getting too drunk again. “But it made you angry enough so…”

Jason glanced over at him. “I was talking about getting trashed with you and taking you home not being a big deal. Are you talking about what just happened in there? Cause I wasn’t angry about taking you home.” 

“I was talking about what happened in there, but even if taking me home wasn’t a big deal, I don’t really like owing people.” It reminded him a lot of the last time he saw Jason as Red Hood.

Jason shrugged, and finally took the bottle. “Well that wasn’t a huge deal either in there. One of Mari’s exes trying to threaten her. She could have dealt with it herself, but I could reach him faster since I wasn’t behind a bar counter. Just don’t like sticking around after getting into a fight. People are always staring and talking about it. It’s annoying.” 

Dick humed in understanding, but didn’t say much else. Jason didn’t seem like the type to want to be told that he was a good guy considering the last time he told him he had a heart of gold. He was also maybe eying Jason’s knuckles and internally debating if he should bother to ask if he could wrap them up.

Jason took a swig and then looked at him, blowing smoke right in his face. “What did I just fucking say about not liking people staring at me right after a fight? And what are you doing right now?” 

“Sorry, sorry. Just thinking to myself, not judging you.” Jason was definitely not going to let him clean those cuts.

“Whatever.” Jason passed the bottle back to him. “You’ve seen I’m fine and given me free alcohol, you can go back inside now, you don’t have to keep following me.” 

Dick just silently took another swig from the bottle and handed it back to Jason.

Jason rolled his eyes but took it anyway. As they were walking a cop car pulled up to them and rolled down the window. “You boys know open containers are illegal, right?” The officer asked.

Jason put on a charming grin and… damn Dick wished Jason would smile more; it looked really nice on him. “C’mon Officer, don’t you have better things to do? I hear Red Hood’s men are out and about today,” he said, confidently taking another drink from the bottle. 

“At least put it in a bag or something,” the officer muttered, but rolled up his window and drove off.

“I feel like you wouldn’t get away with half the things police stop you for if you weren’t hot and aware of it.”

“Nah, that guy’s just paid off by Hood. If you know the right things to say a lot of them leave you alone. Being hot probably helps though.” 

Logically, Dick knew Jason had to have some cops on his side, but being confronted with one was kind of an eye opener. “I think being hot helps more than you’d expect.”

“If you say so,” Jason shrugged and crossed the street without looking to see if any cars were coming. 

Dick considered the pros and cons of asking Jason where they were going and if he’d just tell him to go away again, which he probably would. “You headed anywhere in particular, or are you just trying to see what gets rid of me?”

“A little of both,” Jason answered honestly. “Your persistence kinda weirds me out. I don’t even know if you’re still trying to just get laid or what the aim is.” 

At this point Dick wasn’t really sure what it was either. He was pretty sure his initial goal was to somehow sneak morality lessons into Jason’s life, but now maybe all he wanted was to be Jason’s friend? He wasn’t really sure himself. “Maybe I just think you’re someone worth getting to know.”

“See, that’s where I think you’re full of shit,” he said, pointing the bottle at Dick. “You didn’t care about getting to know me when we hooked up after I made it clear that wasn’t a prerequisite to sex. And even when I bailed out right after, you didn’t push past letting me know I could stay and that morning sex was on the table.” 

Ah damn, he hated smart people. Okay, no that was a lie, he loved it when people were smart, it made them infinitely more attractive, but in this particular case, he hated it. The guilt that formed in his stomach from the last time Dick saw Jason still sat in the pit of his stomach like a rock and apparently wasn’t leaving any time soon. “Things change. Maybe my mind did too.”

“Don’t buy it, but I know you’re not planning to tell me shit. Either way, I’m getting food.” 

“Well since I’m following you, how would you feel if it was a meal paid for by my ass of a rich dad?” So maybe he was still mad at Bruce and sometimes spite was a good way to make decisions.

“I was just planning to get pizza, I’m pretty sure that won’t even register in Bruce Wayne’s bank account.” 

“It’s not about how much money you use, it’s about what you use it on, and in this case I’m using it to treat a hot stranger with blood on his knuckles while trying to be his friend. I’d imagine Bruce would hate that, but do you really want to hear about my daddy issues or do you want an obscene amount of free pizza.” Really, that probably wouldn’t piss Bruce off at all. What would piss him off was that he was specifically trying to befriend Red Hood, something Bruce both noticed and told him not to do. ‘Told’ as in explicitly demanded he stop doing in his Batmany-Bruce way that just managed to over all piss Dick off, hence why he was mad at Bruce. 

“Sure, I like to stick it to billionaires as much as the next guy,” Jason shrugged. “Be sure to leave a fantastic tip.” 

“Of course.” They ended up with way too many pizzas and he tipped the place double of what the bill was.

“I’m tapping out,” Jason finally conceded defeat several slices after Dick had given up, leaning back in his booth seat with three pizzas still untouched on the table between them. 

“I’d hate to waste them though.” Dick was really reluctant to move with the current food baby he was nursing.

“Give them away then, I can’t eat three more pizzas by myself. Or any more pizzas.” 

“You gave it a valiant effort. There’s an orphanage not too far from here. Think they’ll let us give it to the kids?”

“Nah, too easy for us to have put something in it, they’d be pretty bad caretakers if they just took it from us. Park full of homeless people who’ll care less though.” 

“Works for me.” Dick still wasn’t too big on moving and from the looks of it, neither was Jason.

“In a few minutes though,” Jason decided. 

“Absolutely.” Dick stretched out a little more comfortably with a sigh. “Have I passed the ‘not the worst to be around’ test yet?” 

“I haven’t kicked the shit out of you today, so I don’t think you were even in the running.” 

“I guess that’s true, and it makes me feel just that tiny bit better.”

“You try too hard to be liked when people don’t instantly like you though. It doesn’t work in your favor. It’s only ever sort of worked for one person I know.”

“Funny, because I can only think of maybe one other person who didn’t like me instantly despite how much I wanted to get to know them.” Dick had to fight down his smile.

“Not everyone has to like you,” Jason informed him. 

“I know, and not everybody does. It’s not hard for people to dislike a rich playboy, it’s the interesting people I care about.”

“Still not buying into that interesting bullshit.”

“But you are,” Dick bit his lip as he thought about his next words, “It might not be exactly why I started trying to get to know you, but you are and it was at least partly why.”

“So you admit that it’s bullshit then. Care to share the actual reason?” 

Dick hummed as he reached for his drink to take a sip. “I’ll tell you one day.”

“I’ll figure it out eventually. You’ll slip up.” 

“Maybe. You are pretty smart, but for now it’ll stay as something I’ll tell you one day.”

“And you make fun of me for not trusting people.”

Dick simply winked at him and finished his drink. “Let’s go give out some pizzas.”

* * *

Dick was so done with Bruce, the man really needed to learn to mind his own business and let him sort out his own shit. It was supposed to be just a regular night. He was going to fight some criminals, maybe hang out with Jason and maybe fight Jason for being a criminal.

What he got instead was passing by what looked to be Bruce trying to threaten Jason away from him which was just an asshole move in every way.

“Nightwing does not need the influences of you corrupting his judgement.”

“Probably not, but I’m not the one you need to be telling to fuck off. He’s the one who’s been pushing being friendly. And it’s only out of respect to him that I’m not trying to shoot you right now,” Jason answered. 

“He shouldn’t be telling you anything at all,” Dick jumped in, “because we already had this talk.”

“Yeah, I figured I wasn’t the first option. I’m not exactly the easier one to find.” Jason’s body language seemed to relax a little with Dick’s presence. It hadn’t been that obvious that he’d been relaxing slowly around Dick until he could see how he acted around Bruce as a comparison. 

Dick could only assume that Bruce was either scrutinizing or glaring at the two of them, probably trying to figure out how much of a relationship they already had. “Whatever your relationship with this criminal is, it poses the risk of affecting your judgement which-”

“Poses a risk to the safety of Gotham, blah blah, you don’t trust me, blah,” Dick interrupted him, “I know, you’ve already mentioned and like last time, I’m going to tell you to just trust me for once in your life.”

“And I mean really, I’m pretty sure you pose more of a risk to Gotham than I do,” Jason informed Bruce, apparently taking the offensive stance now. 

Bruce’s scowl just grew which was almost an invitation for Jason to continue. And Jason was apparently taking it. 

“After all, I lower crime rates. Whereas you bring out the crazies like the Joker. Probably half the people he’s killed were to get your attention, bring you to a scene. I took him out and it saved thousands of potential next victims. When crazy people start committing mass murder to get to you specifically, you’re no longer just protecting civilians from danger, you are part of the danger. You and boy wonder here wear masks so they can’t get to your loved ones, and so they go for the next best thing: random civilians.” 

Dick remembered the Joker. That had stood out among the people Red Hood killed because of how violent it had been. Security footage of the event had been leaked and while Red Hood was usually rather efficient in his killings because he used guns, this time he’d beaten the Joker to death. 

“It should never be our place to decide who should die, that makes us no better than the criminals we fight against,” Bruce grit out.

“And I’m already a criminal, so guess I’m good on that front,” Dick could practically hear the mocking grin in Jason’s voice. 

Dick resisted the urge to sigh and sag into a slouch. This was why he never wanted them to meet. “No matter the moral differences, I told you that this was none of your business; you can’t just go around telling people who they can or can’t befriend.”

“When you befriend a murderer that has the potential to skew your morality then it becomes my problem.”

“No it doesn’t and no he doesn’t. I know it may be hard for you to remember, but he’s not the first friend I’ve had that has this mind set, he’s not even the only person  _ you  _ know who has this mindset. Last I checked, Wonder Woman still thinks death for the greater good is acceptable and I think it was Flash, someone you’d never consider evil or morally gray, was a fan of the death penalty.”

“Man, Nightwing you’ve got no room to be talking about people minding their own business either. None of you super hero types know how to stay in your own lane.”

“I’m trying to defend why it’s not so bad to like you. Don’t prove me wrong to myself.” Dick would’ve reached to cover Jason’s mouth if that would’ve actually done anything. Stupid helmet.

“I don’t care what Batman thinks of me. If he has a problem, that’s between you guys, has nothing to do with me.”

“I know, and he’s likely not going to like you regardless, but I should be able to form my own opinion of you without his interference.” Most of that was directed accusingly at Bruce, who, like Bruce, didn’t react.

“Given how lenient and lax you are around him, your opinion has likely been skewed already.”

“Tell me that when you don’t have a weird relationship with Catwoman,” Dick huffed.

“Alright, I’m no longer having fun pissing off Batman. Now this just feels like I’m in the middle of some weird family squabble, and I’m uncomfortable with that. Can I, like, leave? Or would you guys just follow me?”

“Well he wouldn’t.” Dick turned towards Jason and held up his grapple because he would much rather be with Jason than Bruce at the moment.

“This conversation isn’t over, Nightwing.”

“It is for now.”

“This wasn’t an open invitation for a tag along, Birdie. Keep up if you can,” Jason informed him before getting out his own grapple and taking off. 

“You know I will.” They left Bruce standing there, glaring at them. Dick knew he wouldn’t follow. Bruce didn’t chase to lecture, but he’d probably find another opportunity to lecture him again.

“So that was weird,” Jason opened with when they finally stopped on a rooftop on the other side of town. 

Dick huffed in annoyance and had to keep himself from punching a wall or doing something equally stupid. “God, talking to him never fails to piss me off.”

“Weren’t you guys partners?” 

“I only work with him on occasion, not enough to be considered partners.” Dick waved off, as he’d been doing since he became Nightwing.

“No, like, before Nightwing. Batman and Robin, the dynamic duo or whatever. I’m from Gotham, I do remember that. I even saw you guys around sometimes. Took the wheels off the Batmobile and everything.” 

“Wait that was you?” And then Dick caught his mistake, “I mean, uh, I wasn’t Robin, what are you talking about?”

“Really? You’re really going to bother with that? Even if we were pretending that everyone didn’t know that you were the boy wonder, after that reaction, you’re still going to try and play that game?” 

“Gimme a break, that ‘conversation’ drained me.” Dick plopped himself down on the edge of the roof to kick his feet back and forth. “Yeah we used to be partners, and I’ll always be grateful that he let me do all that alongside him, but he can get so goddamn controlling. The whole reason I ditched the cape and shorts was because I couldn’t work under him anymore, and even now he’s still trying to control what I do.” Dick inwardly cringed at hearing himself, “sorry you didn’t ask for a rant on my issues.”

Jason hesitated, probably considering how much his aversion to any kind of closeness was going to handle this situation, before shrugging his shoulders. “I’m not a Batman fan, so I guess I can stand to hear you shit talk him.” 

“You sure? Because I’m also pretty good at bottling.”

“Oh I thought that was it… fine whatever I said I’d hear it.” He sat down next to Dick on the rooftop. 

Dick hesitated at first, but as soon as he started he couldn’t stop. The complaints just spilt out of him. The night quickly devolved into him just venting years of frustration.

“Like, I’ll always be grateful to him, how can I not be? But he’s just too much sometimes.”

There was a long pause and for a second Dick was worried he’d overwhelmed Jason and scared him off, but he did eventually respond. “I’m no therapist, but safe to say you’ve got some daddy issues going.”

Maybe it was from how blandly he said it, but Dick couldn’t help but burst into a laugh. “Well I knew that. Thanks for listening to my rant.”

“It’s whatever. Not like there’s many other people you can name drop Batman to who don’t follow him.”

“Yeah well, everyone’s got their problems with him, I’ve just had them longer. Besides, I trust you.” That took him by surprise, he hadn’t meant to let that slip, but thinking about it, he realized it was true. He did trust Jason.

He couldn’t see Jason’s face, but Jason was definitely looking at him now because the helmet was facing him face to face. “Probably a mistake on your part, as many people besides just Batman would tell you, but do what you want I guess.” 

“You haven’t let any of those people get to know you, so their opinions don’t count.” Not for the first time, Dick wished he could just take off Jason’s mask to see his face.

“To be fair, I never let you get to know me either. You just insisted on doing it.” 

“I didn’t think you could be all that bad and I wasn’t wrong.”

“Jury's still out on that.” Jason moved back a bit so he could lay down and look up at the sky, arms folded behind his head to keep the helmet from hitting the concrete roofing. “If it makes you feel better I never really liked my dad either.” 

Dick laid down next to him, mimicking his posture. “Yeah?” He didn’t want to push but he also hoped Jason would be comfortable enough to tell him.

“Yeah, total dirtbag. Ended up in prison. Dead now. He deserved it.” 

Dick hummed in response. He couldn’t really agree with the sentiment of anyone deserving to be dead, but he didn’t want to start up that argument. “I don’t think I’ve ever had family I’ve thought of as that bad. They get annoying at times, but not much past that.” Bruce was of course, the exception. He’d never wish for Bruce either, but Bruce did have a talent for striking a nerve.

“Yeah well if you ever bring up me sharing about mine outside of this conversation I’m going to shoot your kneecaps out,” Jason informed him flatly. 

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Dick chuckled.

“See you’re laughing, and I mean it, so I don’t think you’re expecting it as seriously as you should be.” 

“No, no, I expect it. It’s a very you thing to do.”

“Whatever. Either way, that’s as much sharing as I’ve got in me.” 

“Well, thanks for sharing.” He was always a little touched whenever Jason was obviously comfortable with him.

“Don’t make it into a big deal,” Jason warned. 

“Don’t shoot me, it’ll ruin our heart to heart.” Dick lightly kneed him in the leg.

“No, not a heart to heart. I don’t do those.” Jason kneed him back, much harder than Dick had. 

“Bonding moment?”

“Nope.” 

“Bitch session?”

“You had a bitch session. I said like four sentences.” 

“It was a bitch session,” Dick nodded with a grin.

“For you, yes.” 

“Good bitch session, Red,” Dick gave him a pat on the thigh and rolled away before he could retaliate.

“Fuck off.”

* * *

Dick wanted to see Jason, which was kind of a new feeling because before it was more of a feeling that it would be nice to see Jason or that he should see Jason. This time he actively just wanted to see Jason which was how he found himself swinging around Red Hood’s more known areas, hoping to catch a glimpse of a red helmet as he did patrol.

When he did it was on the ground in a puddle of blood. “We have to stop meeting like this,” Jason mumbled when Dick entered his field of vision.

“Or maybe you need to stop getting hurt.” Dick went through the routine of scanning for where the worst injuries were and unlike last time, they weren’t as bad, like last time though, they were still too extensive to deal with in an alley. 

“I’d really love to. Unfortunately, I have many enemies.” 

“I know you do, big guy. Come on, let’s get you fixed up.” Dick made the decision to take Jason back to his apartment this time. It was closer and maybe it was time for Jason to know. It felt like it was the right time.

“I feel like shit. Can’t we do it here?”

“Not well and I’d rather save your life right than screw up. Don’t think you’ll need another blood transfusion since you can still sass me.” Dick, as gently as he could, pulled Jason up and draped one his arms over his shoulders, but it still caused Jason to groan in pain and nearly collapse against him. 

“Sorry! I don’t have my bike that close so this is going to be a difficult ride.”

“Can’t you just bring your bike here?” Jason asked him.

“Oh right!” Yeah he might’ve forgotten that he could do that. He clicked the button on his gauntlet, and with it being parked at his apartment not too far away, it didn’t take that long. A quick ride to his apartment, he scaled up the fire escape as quickly as he could while carrying most of Jason’s weight.

“God, I think I’d have been better off in the ally,” Jason muttered, not seeming to notice yet where he was, probably too distracted with the stab wound. 

“We’re almost there, I promise.” Dick awkwardly pushed them through his window, careful not to jostle Jason too much, and lowered him onto his couch.

“You’re not just gonna let me pass out here, are you?” 

“You can pass out if you need to since you’re probably not going to want any painkillers or anesthesia I give you. I do need you to help me take off your shirt though, maybe your helmet too for your comfort.”

“I can sleep in the helmet, I’ve done it before.”

Of course he’d say that. Dick was kind of disappointed. He’d kind of thought Jason might be comfortable enough without it around him. “Suit yourself, or well, unsuit yourself because I’ll still need your top off.” Dick tugged lightly at his jacket which sent a small shock of electricity through his hand which probably would have hurt more had he not been wearing gloves.

“Don’t make that face at me. I’m not used to taking it off around people,” Jason grumbled, but complied with deactivating his suit and then, to Dick’s surprise, his helmet. 

“What face?” Dick had to bite back his smile; he was pretty sure he was failing at it too.

He got to work pulling off Jason’s jacket and armour and found the wound right in Jason’s side. It was a good thing he never cleaned up after himself because the last place he left his first aid kit was under the couch.

It wasn’t until after he’d bandaged the wound that Jason finally seemed to take in his surroundings. “Hey I… I've been here,” he murmured, lenses on his mask narrowed as he tried to sit up to get a better look and winced and had to lay back down. 

“Yeah, you have been. I’ve been thinking about it, and I did say I’d tell you one day, so I figured one day could be today.”

Jason looked at him with his brows furrowed and then the lenses went wide and he did actually sit up despite the pain he must be feeling. “You- holy shit. You’re Dick Grayson. Oh my god  _ that’s  _ why you’ve been following me around.” 

Dick peeled off his mask and braced himself for the punch he knew was coming, but what he got instead was so much worse. Jason took off his own mask and looked at him with something a lot like betrayal. “Is that why you agreed to fuck me? And when that didn’t work as an in you started following me around? What was the end goal, Grayson? What were you hoping to get out of fucking with me like that? Goddamnit, I was starting to trust Nightwing. This is why you shouldn’t fucking trust people.” Yeah, Dick kind of wished Jason had just punched him. That probably would have felt better. 

“What? I had no idea who you were when we had sex, I only recognized you after I patched you up. I-“ Dick bit his lip. What could he say? There wasn’t really a good excuse. “I just wanted to get to know you and spend a little more time with you.”

“And so you had to lie to me to do it? That’s fucked up, and you know it. And I spent more time getting to know you as Nightwing than I did with Dick Grayson. So give me a better answer than that.” 

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, that I liked finally getting to see you with your nice eyes and your cute, dumb smug face? Or that I like that you don’t treat me differently no matter who I am? Or that I liked seeing you be the good guy I know you are outside the helmet?” Dick felt like he hadn’t meant to let any of that slip.

Jason didn’t look swayed by it though. “No. I want you to tell me why you actually started following me around. I’ve never fucked Nightwing. So I’m assuming you mean how I treated you when you started hanging around me after that, which wasn’t even good I told you to fuck off. You also didn’t know shit about if I acted like a good guy or not before you started stalking me. So the flirting isn’t going to work. Cut the shit, why did you actually try to infiltrate my life?” 

Flirting was not what he was going for and with every denial, he got more frustrated. “Because I never wanted to arrest you!” Not where he meant to start, and also not meant to be shouted, but there it was. “The last time you got hurt you asked me why I didn’t just turn you in and it’s because I don’t think you deserve it, even if you are a criminal. So maybe I thought it’d be nice if maybe I could get you to stop being as violent or maybe stop killing then it’d be better. But then,” Dick hated this, “but then I realized I couldn’t change you, and I didn’t want to, and I just wanted to know you.”

“Oh like you wouldn’t be thrilled if I did stop killing people. You think I didn’t notice Nightwing only started to want to hang out with me when I stopped killing people in front of him as much? You came into my personal life outside of Red Hood to try and change that, why the fuck should I believe that you got off of your self righteous high horse now, especially when it took three tries for you to even tell me that’s what it was about?” Jason got unsteadily to his feet and tried to storm off towards the door, but his legs ended up giving out on him halfway across the room, and he ended up on the floor muttering curses. 

“Just because only one of those was the one you were looking for doesn’t mean the other two weren’t true.” Dick knelt down to try and offer Jason a hand that he predictably slapped it away. “I don’t just have heart to hearts and get into fights with Batman for just anyone, and I definitely don’t take every other masked friend to my apartment and tell them who I am.”

“And I don’t let people I’ve slept with follow me around or tell people about my family life, and yet I did both of those things with both versions of you, and you even said you trusted me while you were still lying to me.” 

“I do trust you, and I was planning to tell you.”

“Well I don’t trust people like that. You know who all has known who I am under the mask in the whole time I’ve been doing this? The League of Assassins, the Joker, and you.” 

Dick gaped at him wide eyed, “The…. and..? No, no I won’t ask you to explain. But for the record, I don’t trust that many with mine either, because once you know mine you know everything about me, and it’s not a far jump to figuring out who Batman is.”

“And yet you’ve got all these little batlings running around knowing who you are. Both Robin and Robin of the Red variety. Like three different Batgirls. That other new guy. Jason Todd doesn’t even exist in any system anymore and I still keep that shit to myself. One of the people on that list didn’t live long enough after finding out to tell anyone.” 

“Them, they’re family, they have to know. I wanted you to know. And as much as you might hate me right now, I’m not going to let you aggravate a wound out of spite. Let me help you back to the couch.”

“I don’t need your fucking help, I can get five feet across a room on my own,” Jason informed him, but when he sat up to try and do so he ended up back on his back. “Okay, give me the emergency drugs. In my jacket. I’ll be out of your hair in no time.” 

“No. I hated the idea last time, and I hate it this time. I don’t actually want you dead, I thought that might’ve clicked for you at some point.”

“It’ll take more than a stabbing to kill me,” Jason grumbled, trying again to sit up, and this time falling against Dick. 

“That doesn’t mean I can’t worry,” Dick sighed, repositioning him to sit a little more comfortably against him.

“Get off of me, I’m still pissed at you.” Jason shoved at him weakly. 

With another sigh, Dick lifted Jason back up and put him back on the couch. “You can be angry at me, Jay. I don’t blame you, and I’d be angry at me too, but don’t be dumb about your well being. If you don’t want to see my face for the rest of the week then I’ll leave and you can heal here or something.”

“You think I’m staying down for a whole week on your couch?” Jason asked him incredulously. “I wouldn’t stay down for a whole week on any of my own couches.”

“No, but I had hope that you’d at least give yourself that much,” Dick muttered.

“You wouldn’t even give yourself that much,” Jason protested. “I once shot you and you came back to bug me two days later.” 

“I don’t see why that matters, it was only the one time, and we’re talking about you, not me.” It was not only the one time and he knew it.

“Fuck off, I barely got stabbed.” 

“You got completely stabbed. I sewed it up, but fine.” Dick marched over to his room to pull out his laptop and placed it next to Jason. “I know you’re not going to eat or drink anything I already have in here so just order whatever you want. Every place close by already has my credit card on file and they’ll just charge it to that. I’ll be back either by the time you pass out or you find enough energy to leave.” He might as well finish his patrol.

“If you leave me with this I will go through your entire search history,” Jason warned him. 

“As long as you don’t delete my tabs.” He’d left the window open from when he’d brought Jason in, not ideal for what they’d just argued about, but he doubted anyone heard them.

“I’m absolutely deleting your tabs, I’m angry with you, and I can’t shoot you, and I can’t storm out. That’s all I’ve got.” 

“At least take up my offer of feeding yourself with my money.”

“I’ll consider it.” 

Dick didn’t think he was going to get much more than that so he took off out the window.

* * *

He wasn’t actually expecting Jason to still be there when he got back, but he found him passed out on the couch, a Thai food take out box on the coffee table, and the laptop still open several pages back into Dick’s search history. 

He might’ve lost himself a bit, seeing Jason relaxed for once, before he shook himself out of it. It was creepy to stare at someone while they slept. He grabbed a spare blanket and draped it over Jason, closing the laptop as he passed by.

Once he was pretty sure Jason wouldn’t wake up, he undressed himself down to his boxers and headed for bed. He didn’t think he’d be seeing Jason still there in the morning but there was still a stupid part of him that hoped.

* * *

He woke up to the sound of cooking in his kitchen, which was a foreign sound. When he peeked in he saw Jason frying up eggs and bacon on the stove- and Dick wasn’t even sure where he got them, because Dick’s fridge currently consisted of soy sauce, an expired yogurt he was afraid to touch, sodas, leftover Chinese food, and a jug of milk, the only thing he ever replaced. 

“You can’t have any of this,” Jason informed him when he spotted Dick staring. 

“Um, okay?” Dick was still just a little too shocked that Jason was standing and still here at all.

Jason turned off the stove and moved his food onto a plate before staggering over to the couch to sit back down, glaring at Dick as he did so. 

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I got stabbed, how do you fucking think I’m feeling.” 

Dick wanted to ask why he was still here, why he didn’t just leave if he was that angry but he didn’t want Jason to find any reason to leave so he just shuffled his way to his kitchen and made himself a bowl of cereal like he always did.

He was halfway into it when Jason finally spoke up, staring at his hardly touched plate. “I … I don’t know how to do friendships. And I don’t know how to work out problems with people. Usually if I was this pissed at someone, I’d shoot them. Depending on why I was pissed it might be deadly and it might not be, and then I’d never have to deal with them again. But I think about shooting you, and I get more angry, and I can’t do it. So what the fuck am I supposed to do?” 

Dick hid his smile behind his spoon because hope worked! He never thought it would. “Well, I’d prefer it if you didn’t shoot me, I don’t think you’d get rid of me that way anyway. Everyone gets angry at their friends and people they like, you can be angry for as long as you need or want to be and I won’t blame you. Eventually most people forgive, but even if you don’t want to forgive me, I hope you’d still be able to be my friend because I think it’d really suck to lose you.”

Jason stared at him blankly for a moment, “god that sounded so bad; I hated all of that. Why do I give a shit about you again?” 

“Hopefully because I give a lot of shits about you?” That could’ve been phrased better.

“That sounded worse than all of the other stuff you just said.” Jason frowned at him. “And why the fuck do you care anyway? You have other friends and family and all that bullshit. You have plenty of other people to care about.” 

“There shouldn’t be a limit on how many people you can care about. I like you, I like spending time with you, and I hate seeing you hurt and upset, that’s all there is to it.”

“Caring about people is bullshit too. Nothing good comes out of it,” he muttered, moving eggs around on his plate that were probably cold by now. 

“I think you’re wrong and you probably haven’t had anyone prove to you that you’re wrong. I’d be happy to be the one to do it.”

“No, people tend to prove me right.” 

“Then I’ll definitely be happy to be the one to prove you wrong.” Dick was already feeling none too happy with the implications of what the people from Jason’s past had been like.

“We’ll see about that I guess.” 

Dick tentatively went to sit next to Jason on the couch, taking his breakfast with him. “Let me see your wound? You didn’t move around enough to aggravate it after I bandaged you yesterday, but it’s still good to check.”

“You just wanna get me shirtless again,” Jason joked half heartedly, but did remove his shirt so that Dick could look at it. 

“It’s not a bad look on you.” Dick gently undid the bandages just enough to get a good look at the wound. “Well you didn’t undo anything, which is nice, and since we’re at it, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to change your bandages.” Dick silently worked on it, trying to ignore the feel of Jason’s eyes on him. It was only when he was done that the silence felt like it’d gone on too long and he figured he’d maybe chance asking his questions now.

“So… Can I ask? About the stuff you mentioned last night?”

Jason eyed him suspiciously. “Which stuff?” 

“I think you know which stuff.”

“You can ask whatever you want, but I don’t promise to answer or tell the truth.”

Dick had been putting things together since the night before and now he kind of just wanted to know if his assumptions were right. “You mentioned that you’ve died before. If you know the League then… the Lazarus pit?”

“Yep. Talia dumped me in there herself. Couldn’t be bothered to take me out though, I had to swim that for myself. I don’t know how her dad bathes in that thing. Shit is ice cold.” 

“Which means you trained with the League of Assassins?”

“I trained with a lot of people,” Jason answered vaguely, but thinking back on the times he’d actually gotten into hand to hand combat with Red Hood rather than Jason just using weapons, he could remember hints of moves that felt like stuff from the League.

Dick took in all that information and braced himself for the next question. “Can I ask about the Joker?”

“I think you’ve already got a pretty good picture,” Jason told him, but it wasn’t a no. 

“He was your revenge quest.” It wasn’t a question, Dick was pretty confident he was right.

"I kill other people; why wouldn’t I take out the fucker that killed me,” Jason wasn’t quite looking at him, and was bending Dick’s cheap fork in his grip. 

Dick placed a hand over Jason’s and tried to meet his eyes. “I’m not blaming you, or accusing you, or anything. I get it. I mean, I can’t completely understand since I’ve never died, but I definitely get it.” He definitely would be in the same place Jason was today if it hadn’t been for Bruce, given his initial anger at the loss of his parents.

Jason looked between their hands and Dick’s face before looking back to their hands. “Dick, if you don’t stop touching me like you pity me, this fork will go into your hand,” he said evenly. 

“No pity, just empathy, I promise.” Dick did slide his hand off Jason’s though. “Try not to break too much of my silverware though? I know it’s cheap, but a lot of it somehow goes missing. I have like four forks left.”

“Yeah, I know, your kitchen is pathetic. I had to get groceries delivered to be able to make breakfast.” 

“I don’t cook,” Dick shrugged.

“There should still be things in your fridge to eat.”

“I manage to feed myself.” 

Jason looked at the cereal in his bowl skeptically, but didn’t comment. 

“Don’t give me that look, I do!” Dick was glad that they managed to move away from the more serious tone they had for the majority of the morning.

“You’re lucky I’m pissed at you, or I’d be telling you about your risk for cardiac arrest.” 

“I’m surviving.” Dick moved to put his bowl into the sink. “Since you’re back on your feet, I’m guessing you don’t want to be here all day.”

“No, absolutely not. But I figured if I didn’t stick around and say all of that to you now I just wouldn’t do it. I’m definitely leaving now that we’re done with that.” 

“I appreciate it,” Dick smiled, “And if you want me to be at a certain distance then I can do that.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to see your face for at least a week or two. Especially after this little sharing session.” 

“Fine,” Dick could accept that, it hurt, but he could. “But still, did you want me to give you a ride back to… probably an alley that’s just a little closer to where you want to get.”

“Don’t you think you’ve learned more than enough about me to last for the next year in one twenty four hour time frame without adding the direction of one of my safe houses to the list?” 

“Just trying to make things easier for you. I think I’ve stalked you enough.”

“I can handle myself. I’ll get to a safe house just fine.” Jason set his plate down and got to his feet. 

“Suit yourself.” Dick ignored the pang of disappointment and distracted himself by swiping a piece of bacon off of Jason’s untouched plate.

* * *

Jason’s way of alerting Dick that he was finally done avoiding him was showing up in his apartment, watching TV from the window while he smoked. Dick supposed he was trying to be polite by doing it next to the window, but he was pretty sure his whole apartment was going to reek of cigarettes despite the effort. 

“Nice to see you again, how have you been? You want dinner?”

“Is it coming out of your fridge? Because I don’t trust anything from that. And that’s not even a not trusting people thing.” 

“Of course not. There’s nothing in my fridge.” Kind of a lie. He had an untouched salad that Babs had forced on him about a week ago.

“Why are my safe houses better stocked than your actual place of living?”

Dick just shrugged unapologetically and stretched himself out on his couch. “So, pizza?”

“I guess,” Jason finished his cigarette and tossed the end out the window. “You buying?” 

“Of course.” Dick pulled out his phone and made a quick order. It helped that most places close to him just know him. “Really though, how have you been?”

Jason shrugged. “I don’t really want to shoot you anymore, so I figure I’m not as pissed now.” 

Dick hadn’t really given his guilt the most attention, his talent to ignore his problems working at its finest, but he felt tension leak out of him at Jason’s words. “I’m glad, I don’t think I’d be any happier about getting shot now than before.”

“I did spray paint several Wayne Enterprises billboards and the actual building though. So there’s that.” 

Dick had seen that on the news. Hadn’t known it had anything to do with Red Hood, but he’d seen it. Anything from just blocking out the whole board, to a simple ‘fuck you’, to ‘there are no ethical billionaires under capitalism’, or just drawing stuff on Bruce’s face for the billboards that actually showed it. 

“I have no complaints, I got a good laugh out of those.”

“Does he know about me too?”

“Of course not. He doesn’t know that I know, and it’s going to stay that way until he figures it out himself.” He’d been avoiding talking to Bruce too. He knew eventually they’d have to talk to each other, and would probably just agree to disagree like they always did, but for the time being Dick was still miffed at him.

“Well I’m not planning to fuck him and wind up half dead on his couch, so unless you tell him I don’t see him figuring it out.”

“God, that's the worst thing I can imagine, please never say that again.”

“You’re right, he’d probably bend his no killing rule if he heard me say something like that.” 

“Maybe not that, but it’s still disturbing.” Dick shifted around slightly, more just to fidget than anything else. “So, What does not as pissed mean for where we stand?”

“I have no idea,” Jason said, shoving his hands in his pockets awkwardly. “I don’t really have friends. I figured you’d know where this left us.” 

“I mean, I’d like it if we could be friends.” Dick would actually probably also like it if they could be friends with a few benefits because Jason was very hot and sex had been very good with him.

“Right, I figured you would, you’re almost aggressively friendly, but what does that mean? Or: where do we stand, as you put it?”

Dick could really tell that Jason didn’t have too many friends. “It doesn’t really work if I just decide what we are. You know what I want, but you’re also the one that’s angry, that makes it your choice. If you want us to be friends then that’s what we are, if you only like seeing me when I’m useful then we can go back to being acquaintances. You could want neither, it’s up to you.”

“No, you don’t understand,” Jason pulled a hand out of his pocket to run it through his hair in frustration. “I’m saying I want to be your friend. But I don’t know where that leaves us. What does that mean for us? What do I have to do as your friend? I can’t bond with you over committing crimes, like I did with some of the kids I grew up around. I can’t just drink with you in silence like I do with some of the people at the bar. So what do I do?”

Dick didn’t bother fighting off his smile. “Well,” He kicked his feet off the other end of the couch to make room for Jason, “You could come over here and help me pick a movie.”

“I have absolute trust in the fact that you have shit movie taste,” Jason informed him, but hesitantly joined him on the couch anyway. 

“Rude, my movie taste is great.”

As they settled in, Dick letting Jason pick the movie rather than prove how superior his movie taste was, the tension that had surrounded them since their fight dissipated a little. Dick felt himself relax enough that somewhere during the movie he’d moved closer to Jason. They weren’t exactly cuddling, it was closer to leaning against each other, but it was nice.

It wasn’t until Jason was getting ready to leave that some of it seemed to come back, as Jason looked to be trying to psych himself up for something. “I’m good with where this is,” Jason told him, fiddling with the latch on his window, clearly ready to make his escape depending on how Dick reacted to whatever he said next, “but I also… I wouldn’t be opposed to-” Jason was grimacing like this was physically painful for him. “I’ve had a  _ thing _ ,” he was officially not looking at Dick and actually starting to open the window, “for you for a few months.” He didn’t bother to clarify which ‘you’ he meant. “If you wanted to do … more… I could be okay with that.” 

Dick bit back the grin that he felt and tried to keep his reaction minimal. Wouldn’t be great to scare Jason off at the moment. “I think I wouldn’t mind more either.”

Jason froze, one foot already out the window, before looking back at Dick. “You wouldn’t? I’m not going to be any better at this than I am at being your friend. Probably worse actually.” 

“So there’s a learning curve. I don’t mind.” He could even think of it as endearing sometimes.

“Great.” Jason gave a short nod. “Uh, call me, I guess.” And then he was out the window completely, only to a few seconds later poke his head back in, cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “...You don’t have my number, do you?” 

Oh yeah, Dick was endeared. “No, I don’t.”

And for a moment Jason looked like he might still not give it to him, even after coming back for it, but then reluctantly held out his hand through the window for Dick’s phone. 

Dick tossed it to him and watched as he still internally struggled with wanting to give it to him, but finally did give the phone back to him with a new phone number in it. He hadn’t even given himself a proper contact name. Just ‘J’.

Dick happily texted him a heart emoji. “Is this something I should expect to change every other week?”

“No,” Jason gave him an annoyed look. And then looked away before muttering. “Every three months,” under his breath. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Dick wondered if he tried to kiss Jason would that completely chase Jason away. Probably, but it was a very tempting thought.

“I changed it last month, so you have two more.” 

Dick was going to try. He slowly got off the couch and approached him like he was approaching a frightened kitten. He poked his head out the window and gently he pressed a small kiss to his cheek.

For someone who had been so confident in approaching Dick for sex the first time they met as civilians, Jason turned bright red at the small contact as soon as feelings were involved. “Right, uh, goodnight.” And then Jason surprised him by quickly brushing Dick’s lips with his own before vanishing into the night, vaulting over the railing of the fire escape to do so.

Dick sighed, yeah, he found that incredibly endearing.


End file.
